“Socialism only works in two places: Heaven, where they don’t need it, and hell, where they already have it.” —President Ronald Reagan

In retrospect, Barack Obama has been a hard leftist fascist: carcinogenic change based upon his personal ideology without a thought to the tremendous harm perpetrated by his ilk to this nation. Let me be clear: he is a socialistic wolf masquerading in sheep’s “Democrat” clothes. Back in 2008, he duped Edward “the Lion of the Senate” Kennedy as easily as he did the American people, not once, but twice. At that time (and ever since) Mr. Obama has used shiny, superficial surfaces to successfully appropriate JFK’s moniker: a new, cool, youthful sheen. Notice how Edward Kennedy’s words then invoked his martyred brother when speaking of Mr. Obama’s candidacy:

“There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a New Frontier… So it is with Barack Obama. He has lit a spark of hope amid the fierce urgency of now. I believe that a wave of change is moving across America. If we do not turn aside, if we dare to set our course for the shores of hope, we together will go beyond the divisions of the past and find our place to build the America of the future.”

Yet, all that glitters here has been fool’s gold. Mr. Obama’s presidency has actually been the antithesis of JFK’s pro-American, anti-Communism (read: Fidel Castro and the Cuban Missile Crisis). Specifically, Mr. Kennedy’s “New Frontier” was a youthful transition of American power into new hands that preserved their original ideals. Contrast that to Mr. Obama’s “fundamental transformation of America” that has systematically dismantled American economic, military and geo-political influence worldwide.

Why is the millennial generation infatuated with progressives’ “nanny” state Socialism? This is the same coddled crowd that needs “safe spaces” on college campuses — and goes into apoplectic fits when someone at Emory University writes “Trump 2016” in chalk on a public sidewalk. (Can these 20-somethings walk and chew gum at the same time?) What else explains a Gallup poll in which approximately two-thirds are comfortable with an “unconventional” person for president: 69% a socialist; 75% an atheist; 76% a Muslim? Seriously? Hence, the unexpected success of Bernie Sanders insurgent candidacy. (A sham designed to make polarizing liar Hillary more mainstream and therefore more palatable to the electorate.)

In theory, it’s a great Utopian idea to “spread the wealth around.” That is, when we had some. Yet, our reality is a dystopian society now $19 trillion in debt (and counting, with interest). So a newsflash to entitled millennials: there isn’t any — so stop whining! This latest generation is so indoctrinated by liberal touchy-feely (“don’t question, do whatever feels good”) philosophy that that exorbitantly expensive six-figure college degree is a complete waste of time and resources. Of this, the great Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” Indeed, colleges of today no longer teach reason or logical thinking (read: their defining purpose). That is why, for example, the most ridiculous, nonsensical appearances are tolerated by this tattooed generation of rainbow hair, masochistic body piercings and adult-sized onesies. Millennials know nothing about the patriotism (and sacrifice) of WWII’s Greatest Generation or “pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps”: the take-charge responsibility inherent in every free, flourishing society. I’d wager they see America’s once pioneering spirit through the modern lens of unrelated “Brokeback Mountain” cowboys. In other words, everything in their careless, narcissistic heads is a scramble of anti-American college “intellectualism” and MSM spoon-fed propaganda. That’s just how progressives maintain political power despite the abject failures of the current administration:

“Public opinion is controlled by the media (Hollywood, news, internet), and education. So, whoever controls media and education controls the country.” —William J. Federer

And what do the young find when they get beyond their empty-headed Kardashian style reality TV and their “safe” ivied walls? They join the 93 million other able-bodied Americans who cannot find gainful employment (read: Obamacare’s restrictive employer mandates) as the country teeters towards bankruptcy like Greece and complete disarray like Venezuela’s two-day work week. (That’s a “weekend” to the rest of us.) Of this deplorable latter dynamic, even the sycophantic Washington Post (which supports Mr. Obama’s similar economy-killing policies) aptly observed: “Venezuela has a lot of problems, and a good number of them are quite clearly the government’s fault.” Well, hallelujah! Out of the mouth of these leftist, drooling babes comes rare insight. Too bad, their hysterical political blindness prohibits them from seeing the same things transpiring here.

As present is often prelude to future, Venezuela — holder of the world’s largest oil reserves — makes an informing case study. Forty years ago, this now failed state was then, per capita, the fourth richest nation in the world. For the last 20 years — like our mercifully ending two terms under Mr. Obama (and a possible further ruinous continuation under a Clinton 2.0 regime) — the Venezuelans also embraced Hugo Chavez socialism under the banner of his successor, Nicolas Maduro. Its economy shrunk by 10% in 2015. Similarly, China overtook the U.S. as the largest economy by GDP in 2014 (and likely still is because it has artificially undervalued its currency. Indeed, in its closed society, the true strength of its economy is difficult to gauge). Venezuela’s inflation is in triple digits, its currency the bolivar is almost worthless, and the decline in worldwide oil prices has crippled the worth of its exports.

Here, our economy has been hot-wired to bolster Mr. Obama’s political standing. Specifically, the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at or near zero for almost all of the Obama presidency while simultaneously funneling $3 trillion into the stock market. (Likewise is the fuzzy math fiction of the Department of Labor’s claim of a “5%” unemployment rate.) Despite the political cover, Mr. Obama’s “transformative” efforts at big government socialism were the same failed leadership decisions that wrecked Venezuelans in just 20 years. Now what they have to show for it is hours-long breadlines to obtain basics like eggs and milk. Contrast that experience to any local grocery store — a for-profit venture — with a readily accessible, overflowing bounty of foodstuffs.

The poverty rate in Venezuela is now 76%. It’s so bad there it’s even had toilet paper shortages. Meanwhile, we blissfully debate the “high class” problem of how many bathrooms and the wisdom of making them unisex for the gender fluid. As with Mr. Obama’s failed stimulus programs, tax-and-spend policies and embrace of excessive regulations (related, for example, to discredited fictions like “global warming”), both Chavez and Maduro wasted tremendous amounts of money. (Ring any bells yet, supporters of progressives and/or Bernie Sanders?)

Spoiled Millennials have gone from the safety of home to college where they have been conditioned to believe that big government (“Uncle Sam” as Santa Claus) will simply provide for them as their parents did. Therefore, everything earned by previous generations through risk, hard work and capitalist enterprise is now an entitlement: food (food stamps), shelter (vouchers and section 8 housing), health care (Medicare and Medicaid) et cetera. The majority under 30 do not support capitalism even though it has raised more people out of poverty than any other economic system. By why should these would-be welfare waifs work when everything is “free,” right?

Just ask the rioting, downtrodden Venezuelans: there is no such thing as a “free” lunch there anymore. Any U.S. presidential candidate claiming otherwise is a Sal Alinsky style class warfare fraudster. Such immoral politicians are wolves. They are power-hungry, promising the sun, moon and stars to hold the reins of political power. Yet the fact remains that an empty treasury filled with IOUs can’t fill a belly forever. After eating the MSG Chinese food, the economic hell of that $19 trillion bill is rapidly coming due. If Americans don’t choose wisely, will empty shelves and power blackouts become our new normal?

Make no mistake: a rebirth or a reckoning is inevitable. Once again, this election cycle is a critical heartbeat in our culture, what Ronald Reagan presciently called in 1964 “A Time for Choosing.” A free market, pro-capitalism Republican or a big government progressive/socialist “Democrat.” In 2016, which option is likely to preserve the Founding Fathers’ great experiment in liberty, what remains of our (gutted, mismanaged) democracy known today as Mr. Reagan’s “shining city on a hill? Will that light flicker and dim or stay bright?

David L. Hunter is on Twitter and blogs at davidlhunter.blogspot.com. He is published in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Patriot Post, FrontPage Mag, and extensively in Canada Free Press and American Thinker.